Sean Riley, Brian Wilkin, Ryan Meegan and Jeff Klimkowski, collectively known as “the Dudes” have been friends since grade school in the Chicago area. They ended up sharing a place in Lakeview, and unanimously preferred to use baby wipes over toilet paper. The idea for Dude Wipes came about when the Dudes went to college; they continued to enjoy baby wipes over toilet paper. That’s when they realized there weren’t any wipes catered to the adult males.
In 2012, they designed and produced the first batch of male wipes and promptly sold out. Dude Wipes are unscented, flushable, biodegradable wipes with Vitamin E & aloe. They generated buzz by changing the packaging for each production run, with printed tweets from their Twitter fans. Since then, Dude Wipes received a lot of press coverage. They won a 2013 Visionary Award at the Vision 2013 - Consumer Products Conference. They’ve also been featured on MTV, in Maxim and other men’s publications.
Fairly soon Dude Wipes were available to shop via Amazon and by Aug 2015 they were available on Kroger shelves. By then they had USD 250,000 in sales and growing. To expand their retail footprint they ended up meeting the Sharks on Shark tank with a goal to raise USD 300,000 for 10% stake. Fortunately, they got multiple bids from the sharks and they ultimately partnered with Mark Cuban who was willing to invest their desired amount for 25% stake - valuing Dude Wipes at USD 1.2 million (4.8x’s sales).
During the pandemic, they were able to hike their net sales to USD 30 million in 2020. Most major retailers as well as drug stores including Kroger, Meijer, Jewel, Target and Walgreens carry Dude Wipes on their shelves.
Dude’s idea to cater a niche market to clean men’s bottoms propelled them to the top with a million-dollar business. Their tireless effort to expand their retail footprint and launch new products has helped them grow their business and will continue to going forward.
There's no path to success. Everyone constructs their own path. The important thing is to follow your heart. Find your niche, is my best advice.
― Karol G
Sources:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/blue-sky/ct-dude-wipes-shark-tank-bsi-20151016-story.html
https://www.businessinsider.in/strategy/mark-cuban-just-made-a-300000-investment-in-wipes-for-guys-butts/articleshow/49434579.cms
https://www.bustle.com/articles/116577-where-to-buy-dude-wipes-from-shark-tank-which-are-exactly-what-they-sound-like
https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/inno/stories/news/2017/04/12/chicago-startup-dude-wipes-cleans-up-after-shark.html
https://www.sharktankblog.com/business/dude-wipes/
https://www.inc.com/emily-canal/flushable-wipes-dude-products-toilet-paper-shortage-coronavirus.html
Wow 🤩… niche Business Ideas always succeed, even if with a lag 👍🏻